Dragonflight
by Reyka Sivao
Summary: In which our heroes encounter a dragon, and try to figure out what to do about it. Ensemble and Senritsu.


Author's notes: Story written for the Secret Coconut, a fic exchange promoted by the community Saint Seiya Super Fics Journal.  
Set roughly in the York Shin arc-call it a "What-if". Also, why is lighthearted friendship/adventure fluff so much harder to write than angst?

ETA: Please forgive-and possibly point out-any remaining formatting errors after this site butchered my formatting. -_-

* * *

Kurapika dodged as the dragon breathed fire at the exact spot he'd been three-quarters of a second before, and resisted the urge to close his eyes and pinch the bridge of his nose.

Today was _not _a good day.

Actually, he would have a hard time defining any day where he was forced to try and recapture an escaped dragon as a "good day".

Not that he'd ever had many days like that.

Well, any.

How the hell had he gotten into this situation, again?

The dragon, which was roughly the size of a yacht, whipped its tail around, and Kurapika threw himself onto his left hand while trying to tangle his Dousing Chain around the dragon's legs and attempting to figure out if the conditions of his heart chain would work on a non-sentient being.

Things really shouldn't have gotten this bad. They'd just been at another auction, bidding on yet more overpriced collector's pieces—one that didn't even include any human body parts. No, they'd just been looking for something for Neon, who'd been something like inconsolable ever since she'd realized her powers weren't coming back.

There hadn't been any mummies, much to her disappointment, but when the rare animals had come out…

Well.

Kurapika wasn't sure whether this was a natural animal from some unexplored part of the world, a rich hobbyist's genetic chimera, or some other unfathomable option, and frankly, he really didn't care that much.

All he _did_ care about at the moment was the fact that the dragon had somehow broken its chains and was now rampaging around the city, and it was _his_job to fix the situation.

Well, his and Senritsu's.

Unfortunately, to make matters much, _much_worse, the dragon's first move after breaking out had been to swipe at her with its tail, knocking the surprised woman into a wall that had just turned much more inconvenient than usual.

The shock of the attack had sent Kurapika careening into Emperor Time, so he hadn't had a problem healing Senritsu's (thankfully minor) injuries with his Cross Chain, but there had been nothing he could do to fix her smashed flute.

That would be the flute she used to amplify her powers, of course.

The powers that could have calmed down the frenzied dragon in a few seconds.

Dammit.

And now, Kurapika couldn't even work up the emotional intensity to maintain Emperor Time. The best he could come up with was a sort of annoyed apathy, and the red drained from his eyes behind his contacts.

So now he was left with nothing but his Dousing Chain (not that he needed to _locate _the damned thing), Senritsu had little more than her passive hearing ability (not particularly useful in a situation as noisy as this one, and indeed, apparently rather painful to her).

Kurapika looped his chain around the dragon's neck, but it pulled away with a roar and a jerk, breaking the chain in several places.

Scowling, Kurapika reformed the chain and tried again, almost wishing he could convince himself that this was all a plot by the Spiders. What he wouldn't give to have access to Chain Jail right about now!

The dragon reared up, ready to strike again, and Kurapika tensed to dodge as soon as he knew which way to go.

That was right about the time the firework went off.

Wait…was the firework shouting a battlecry?

"KyyyAAAAA!"

The dragon roared again, and staggered backwards as the firework—since when did fireworks last anywhere near that long?—struck it in the head.

The firework fizzled and dropped to the ground in front of Kurapika, and he found that somewhere along the way, it had turned into Killua.

"Yo," said the boy, sticking his hands in his pockets with a fraction of a nod in the general direction of Kurapika.

"Oy," came another voice from behind. "Oy, Kurapika!"

Kurapika turned halfway back, not exactly wanting to turn his back on even a distracted dragon.

"Gon? Killua? What are you doing here?"

"Heh, nice to see you too," said Killua. His eyes were half-lidded in that smug expression Kurapika found so incredibly annoying, but the grin he'd cracked actually seemed genuine.

"We've all come to visit you!" said Gon, skidding to a stop by his friends, and then, without pausing for breath, "Where'd you get the _dragon?_"

His eyes were shining as he looked at the beast…which Kurapika (the part of Kurapika that _wasn't _currently involved in hating its guts) had to admit was a magnificent creature.

Its hide was a dark red that glinted gold in the sunlight—or perhaps the other way around, it was impossible to tell. Either way, it was so dark that, in shadow, it edged into black.

The dragon hadn't yet managed to extend its wings fully, which was probably a very good thing indeed, but they looked like they'd probably reach a good thirty feet across.

In addition to its wings, it had four walking limbs, each ending in a set of wickedly sharp and dangerously dexterous claws.

Gon, of course, didn't see the danger. He saw a new pet.

"She's _amazing!_"

Gon actually clapped his hands in delight, like a kid in the world's biggest candy store…or pet shop.

"Indeed. Though I'm sure I'd be able to admire it for easily if it weren't currently involved in tearing apart the city."

"She," corrected Gon. Of course he would know. "And I'm sure we can help catch her!"

"That would…wait, did you say 'we've all come to visit you'?" Kurapika's mind finally caught up to the odd way Gon and referred to himself and Killua.

Unless, of course…

"Long time no see!"

Think of the devil.

"Leorio," he said, by way of greeting. "I hope you'll forgive me if I put off asking what brings you here."

The dragon shook its—her—head in confusion, and inhaled deeply.

"Eh, I'm on spring break," said Leorio. "Those two convinced me a bit of travelling might do me good."

The dragon exhaled a stream of fire that swept across the pavement towards them, and the two friends leapt behind a convenient shield that usually moonlighted a piece of building.

"I trust you're doing well in school?"

"Anatomy was a killer, but physiology is much better. Midterms just about killed me, though."

The dragon roared and flicked her powerful tail, knocking something into the row of windows right behind them, and Kurapika and Leorio dodged the resulting hail of glass shards.

"Glad to know you survived."

Kurapika glanced over his shoulder. The dragon was quickly approaching what appeared to be a hastily constructed police barricade, with curious—_stupidly _curious—civilians lined up on the other side.

"Oy, Gon!" he shouted. "Can you get it to go the other way?"

"Her!" called back Gon, popping up over the edge of a nearby roof. "And sure!"

But before he could, the firework—which Kurapika now realized was Killua with a particularly shiny nen attack—reappeared in the sky on the other side of the dragon.

"Hey there, kitty kitty," called Killua bouncing up and down on the roof. "Come on, get the shiny…"

Gon, meanwhile, was leaping over roofs toward the giant reptile, ready to do who-even-knew-what, so Kurapika turned his attention toward finding the last member of their newly-formed party.

"Senritsu," he said out loud, not bothering to shout. All this noise was painful enough to her oversensitive hearing already, without him adding to it.

"Here," she called, appearing off to his side and picking her way around rubble. "Nice to see you again, Leorio."

"Likewise," he said with a smile.

"I don't suppose you've figured out a way to calm it down?" broke in Kurapika. Not that he begrudged their reunion, but there was a dragon on the loose.

Senritsu shook her head. "Without my flute, I can't amplify it enough."

Kurapika swallowed a curse, but Leorio's ears pricked up. "You need a flute?"

They both looked at him.

"Yes," said Senritsu. "I could calm it down with my flute, but it broke."

"Does it have to be your flute, or would any do?"

"Any," said Senritsu. "Actually, any instrument I know how to play."

"Why?" asked Kurapika. "Do you have one on you?"

He glanced at Leorio's ever-present briefcase. He'd never seen one in there, but who knew?

"Nah, not on me. But I _did _happen to see a rather nice looking music stand on the way in." He stood, shaking out his shoulders, and grabbed Senritsu's hand. "Come on! I'll bet I can get you an awesome dragon-attack discount!"

He tugged on Senritsu's hand, and Kurapika saw a jagged edge of red.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

"No, no, it's a good idea, Kurapika-san." She smiled, and her finger danced around to the rhythm of his heart, not even needing to say anything. "I'll be right back. You just try and keep her from hurting any innocents." She'd heard Gon, of course.

With that, she was gone, whisked away in the direction of her music.

Kurapika glared at the huge form of the dragon.

Today was _not _a good day.

* * *

"Oy, coming through!"

Senritsu felt like she was being half-dragged as Leorio pulled her after him. Not her preferred method of travel, but forgivable, given their rush.

"I know it was around here—ah, there it is."

She came to an abrupt stop before he let go of her and stepped aside.

"There we go. Anything look promising?"

The little street-shop did indeed have a rather nice selection of most types of instruments. Making a mental note to come back later, Senritsu turned her attention away from the lovely strings and percussion, and toward the more ideal woodwinds. She would have liked to take her time, testing each for the sound she was looking for, but she only looked at a few before selecting one that would do.

"That one do it for ya?"

She barely had time to nod before being whisked away again, this time toward the shop owner.

"That'll be 40 jeni," he said, even before they stopped.

Leorio adopted the stance of someone who couldn't be more shocked.

"Forty?! There's no way this piece of junk could be worth that even under the best of circumstances. But I can offer you a better deal: give us the flute, and this young lady here will use it to keep that dragon from destroying your shop." The dragon picked that moment to send a jet of flame leaping into the sky, underscoring Leorio's point.

The shopkeeper blinked, and then roared with laughter.

"That's a good one! You've got balls, I'll give you that. Just for being a good sport, I'll cut the price down to thirty."

Leorio looked offended. "My good sir, you think I'm lying? 'Music hath charms that can tame the wild beast', and this young lady is simply amazing at it. Why, I've seen her do better!"

The shopkeeper raised an eyebrow. "Better than calming a wild dragon?"

"Yes."

"What, pray tell?"

Leorio grinned. "She calmed down my friend Kurapika."

His words caught Senritsu by surprise, and she laughed out loud.

The shopkeeper's eyes narrowed. For an instant, Senritsu thought he was angry, but then she realized his heartbeat was contemplative.

"Ten jeni."

"Eight."

He grimaced. "Fine, but only on the condition that my shop remains undestroyed." He pointed at his forehead, then Leorio's—he'd know.

Senritsu wasn't entirely sure what he'd _do_about it even if he knew, but that didn't seem terribly relevant.

"You got it!" Leorio shouted back over his shoulder, and she found herself snatched away again.

This was getting old.

* * *

"Come on! Catch!"

Gon threw a mild version of his Paper attack across the dragon's field of vision, trying to entice her to swipe at it. If they could just turn it into a game…

She saw the bright light and jerked away from it, but instead of pawing at it like a cat, she snuffled, puffing fire at it like…well, actually, he'd never come across another animal that could breath fire, unless one counted the lava-surfing Volcano Otters that one time…but either way, she was just such a beautiful animal!

"Oy! Come on, Smokey!"

Killua blazed with electrical fury again, trying to lead her back toward the already-destroyed portions of the city.

Of course, _this_was the time she chose to swipe at the light that kept bothering her.

Killua's taunts dissolved into an incoherency that might or might not have been profane as the dragon clawed at him—though if she could have cursed as well, she probably would have, as her all-too-conductive metallic hide hit Killua's highly charged form.

"No! I didn't mean to catch _him!"_ Gon shouted. "I meant catch _this!"_

He threw another harmless ball of nen in the general direction of the nearest demolished building and jumped over toward where Killua had disappeared into a wall.

"Urf," grunted Killua as his head reappeared behind the roughly Killua-shaped hole in the wall.

"Hey! You ok?"

"Of—_oof—_course I am," said Killua, clutching his side. "It's just a dragon."

"She," corrected Gon.

"Whatever."

Gon's nose twitched. "Oh, here she comes again…"

She smelled like woodsmoke—hardwood, not soft, and more like the smoke from sweet sapwood than aged heartwood—with a bit of a metallic tang, and the smell was rapidly coming a great deal closer to them.

"So I see," said Killua, who was facing toward her.

"Better duck," suggested Gon.

"Eh," said Killua.

The two stood staring at each other a moment longer while the roaring dragon descended on them, and then dropped to the ground as one as the dragon sailed overhead and directly into Kurapika's newly-materialized chain.

"You two really are morons, you realize that?"

"Probably," said Gon.

"If not, we'll figure it out sooner or later," said Killua.

Kurapika considered that. "Close enough."

"Hey, watch out!" said Gon, as the dragon yanked at the end of Kurapika's chain that was currently wrapped around her snout.

The other end of said chain promptly found itself at the end of a very taut middle section, and, as it was a strict adherent of the laws of physics (though a somewhat late convert, after being brought into existence by being conjured out of thin air), slingshotted its holder directly toward said dragon's snout.

* * *

Today was _not _a good day.

Not a good day _at all_.

In fact, he was _strongly_considering demanding hazard pay for this mission.

The dragon's teeth looked a great deal bigger from this vantage point—rather like those knives wielded by Gormet Hunter Menchi in the Hunter exam, in fact, odd as it was to note—and unless he missed his guess, she was about to exhale in his general direction.

No, not a good day.

"Hey! No toasting my friend!"

Kurapika blinked and turned his attention from the dragon's mouth toward her forelegs as a smallish figure whapped the flat side of a briefcase against the side of her leg.

The dragon jerked her head and _whuff_ed, thankfully in that order, as Kurapika was thrown out of the way of the jet of flame.

"Now what did I tell you?" said Leorio. "No toasting friends! Also, no biting, clawing, crushing, or otherwise maiming them, all right?"

The dragon _whuff_ed again, and shook her snout furiously, sending Kurapika careening into several different walls in a matter of seconds.

This was getting old fast. Unfortunately, Kurapika couldn't quite muster the mental clarity needed to dematerialize a section of his chain, mainly for reasons involving his continued attachment to said chain. If only he weren't being tossed around like this, he might be able to prevent himself from being tossed around like this…

* * *

"Oy, I don't think she likes your idea," said Killua as the dragon shook her head. His one hand was casually stuck his pocket, while the other was held just a little too closely to his side, which hurt rather more than he let on.

"Well now! Someone should teach her respect for her elders!"

Killua scoffed. "For all you know, she's eighty years older than you!"

"Oh no," said Gon, popping up again. "She's a very young dragon."

Killua rolled his eyes.

"See?" said Leorio. "No respect!"

"Perhaps," said Senritsu, panting as she finally caught up to him, "you'd better let me try, Leorio-san…"

Leorio bowed and gestured in the general direction of the dragon. "Work your magic, my lady."

The small woman took a few more deep breaths, trying to regain control of her breathing, and Killua cocked an eyebrow at her, not at all sure what she meant or why she had needed a flute so badly. Sure, she had super-hearing and all, but what was she going to do, use _super-flute-playing_to defeat a rampaging dragon?

Senritsu lifted the flute to her lips and began to play.

…then again, she _did _have Kurapika's respect.

The tune wasn't particularly calming—it was light and playful, bouncing and cheerful like Gon on the best of days.

The dragon stopped shaking her head—it was a wonder she hadn't gotten horribly dizzy by now…perhaps dragons had different inner ear structures?—and instead tilted her head rather quizzically.

The chain caught around her snout shone briefly before fizzling into nonexistence.

Senritsu's tune shifted slightly, becoming more insistent. It was jig-like in its intensity, and Killua had to fight the almost overwhelming urge to start tapping his suddenly-light feet.

Suddenly, Gon laughed, and threw himself into a cartwheel beside him.

"Come on, Killua!" he shouted. "Let's play!"

Before Killua had a chance to ask what the heck he was going on about, Gon was already away and forming another harmless, glowing nen sphere.

"Catch!" he cried, and launched the ball with a convenient downbeat in the music.

This time, the dragon snuffled and pawed the colorful sphere.

"Again!"

Gon spun around and launched another ball, and another, in time with the music.

Killua frowned. Emission wasn't exactly his forte…but nor was it Gon's, and darned if he was going to let him outdo him. Besides, it wasn't like Gon was using much force…

He formed his electrical nen into something like what Gon was doing, waited for a good moment, and jumped into the song.

* * *

Leorio's feet were tapping rather more than he intended as he headed toward the pile of rubble that most probably contained his friend. He should probably be worried, but he found it impossible to worry to the sound of Senritsu's lighthearted music. In fact, he should probably also be worried about the power she could hold over them all with nothing but her own breath and a hollow piece of wood. But no, there was nothing really to worry about…

A piece of rubble—it looked like it had been a door in a previous life—shifted off a larger pile, followed by a familiar, chain-clad hand.

"Oy, Kurapika! You all right?" shouted Leorio joyously.

Again, he should probably be concerned…

"I've been better," said Kurapika sourly.

Well, maybe Senritsu's power wasn't _quite_as strong as that.

Leorio reached the pile and offered Kurapika a helping hand—a hand which, to Leorio's surprise, Kurapika actually took.

"You all right?" repeated Leorio, a note of actual concern slipping past the dancing notes of the song.

"I think my arm is broken, and I'm also rather dizzy. Otherwise, I seem to be in relatively acceptable condition."

Leorio dismissed wondering whether or not his friend was being sarcastic in favor of something a little more answerable.

"A broken arm? Excellent!"

Kurapika gave him an indescribable look.

"Oh, come on. Did you think I'd been _completely_wasting my time? I've gotten a nen teacher too."

"Oh, really?" said Kurapika, through clenched teeth. "Fat lot of good it did you."

"Shut up. Not all nen training is combat training. Do you want me to heal your arm or not?"

Kurapika looked dubious.

"Come on—broken bones are easy. Besides, I need the practice."

"Not helping."

"Not like you can do it at the moment, Mr. Emperor Time."

"…"

"Come on. Trust me on this."

Kurapika sighed in resignation, which was apparently good enough for Leorio.

"Excellent," he said, rubbing his hands together.

* * *

It really wasn't as bad as all that.

In fact, whatever he was doing—probably some sort of emission-enhancement hybrid—he actually seemed to be quite good at it. Leorio's nen was just a warmish tingling that provided a nice counterpoint to Senritsu's strengthening music.

Also, it made his arm hurt a lot less, which definitely counted as an improvement.

"Aaaand done! How's the arm working now?"

Kurapika flexed his arm experimentally.

"…I think it's actually better."

"No need to sound quite so surprised!"

Kurapika twisted his lips.

"Anyway! Let's see what the boys have been up to."

Kurapika wrinkled his forehead and was about to ask what he meant—wasn't Senritsu the one who was 'up to' something?—when a stray lightning ball fizzed into the ground not far away.

Perhaps he should have been paying more attention to what was actually happening over there. A broken arm was no excuse for inattentiveness. Of course, he'd known Senritsu had it under control for the moment…

But when he looked, all he could see around the rubble was the bobbing head of the dragon and flashes of white and yellowish nen. Were they still fighting while he was wasting time over here?

He heaved himself up and was already halfway around the largest pile of rubble before his ears caught up to him.

Whatever it was, it sure didn't sound like fighting. Two voices were laughing, and he vaguely heard Gon say something like "No, not over _there!"_

…what?

"Heh, they do seem to be having fun, don't they?" said Leorio, catching up to him. "At least, after our friend worked her magic."

…what?

Kurapika rounded the edge of the rubble, only to be met with the most absurd image in the whole absurd day.

Gon, Killua, and the 30-foot dragon were engaged in what looked like a cross between a game of volleyball and a choreographed lightshow to the tune of Senritsu's woodwind jig.

Kurapika stared for a few seconds as the two boys bounced harmless balls of light in front of the giant reptile—at least, he assumed she was a reptile—as she pawed at them and _whuff_ed tiny clouds of sparks.

"Yo! Try _this_one!" shouted Killua as he shot a sparking lightning ball straight through the middle of one of Gon's more stable energy spheres, which made them both expand like fireworks.

Kurapika gave in to the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.

Senritsu's melody changed slightly, and the headache he hadn't even realized was starting to form behind his eyes lifted. Perhaps this day wasn't going to end so badly after all…

"What is the meaning of all this?!"

…never mind.

Straightening, Kurapika turned to greet the newcomer. "Mr. Nostrad…" he started, not entirely sure how he was going to even begin to explain.

"Look, daddy! I told you!"

Kurapika's lips tightened at the sound of neon's voice. Well, at least she wasn't crying any more.

"Can I have it? Please?"

"Her," Kurapika corrected without thinking.

"Ooh, it's a _girl_ dragon? Daddy, can I have her, _please?!_"

Nostrade turned to Kurapika. "Didn't I tell you to buy her whatever she wanted? And is that thing safe? It looks like it destroyed half the city!"

Suppressing his grimace, Kurapika tried to ignore the fact that he'd just been simultaneously chided for both buying and not-buying the dragon, and instead mustered the blandest tone he could manage.

"She broke out before the bidding was over." He probably should have followed that with a "Sir."

"Hey…" said Leorio.

"Well, do you have a plan to fix this situation?"

"We—"

"Hey!" said Leorio. "I hate to break up this little…interaction, but how long can she keep that up?"

The other two men turned to stare at him for a beat—Neon was still gazing happily at the dragon—and then turned back toward Senritsu.

"…perhaps we should think about that first," said Kurapika.

"Perhaps so," said Light Nostrade.

"She's so shiny!" said Neon Nostrade.

But before any of them could say anything more, the lively jig wound to a final crescendo and fell silent.

The atmosphere went tense.

The dragon lifted her head up, opened her jaws as wide as they would go…

…and curled her long neck around the two boys in front of her and promptly went to sleep.

Well.

He started forward, still wary—since when was this day anything but unexpectedly awful?—and was most of the way over when Gon's head popped up above the dragon's scaled neck.

God paused to rub behind the dragon's eye ridges before hopping down. "That was great! Can we do it again sometime, Miss Senritsu?"

"Only you," grunted Killua climbing up a little more slowly.

"Oh, I suppose that depends…" said Senristu, sitting down on what looked to have been a gargoyle.

"So…now what?" said Leorio, coming up behind Kurapika.

"Can I have her? Pleeease?"

"I don't know, dear…she did just destroy half the city…" The two Nostrades appeared to have decided that it was safe enough for the moment.

"Oh, she didn't mean to!" said Gon. "She was just scared."

"See? She won't do it again!"

"Maybe it would be best to return her to the wild…"

Neon made a sound of dismay, which didn't surprise Kurapika in the slightest, but so did _Gon_, which surprised him rather a lot.

"But she's never _been_in the wild!" said Gon. "She'd have as much of a chance out there as you would!"

Gon probably didn't realize that that could be taken as anything other than a simple, observable fact.

Light Nostrade tilted his head. "How would you know?"

Killua finally hopped down behind him, grimacing as he held his side. "He does that. I think he speaks Animal."

"Oh!" cried Neon. "Can you _train_her?"

Gon tilted his head. "Oh, probably. If she knew what you wanted, she'd probably be happy to do it."

Neon clapped her hands and jumped. "See, daddy? I could have a dragon and he could teach her to do tricks and _everything!_Please! You'd be the greatest!"

Light was silent for a moment—probably calculating how much his rich friends would pay to see a dragon performing tricks—before turning to Gon.

"Well…are you interested in the job?"

"Well…" said Gon doubtfully, "I don't know…"

"Yes," said Killua. "Yes, he is."

Turning to Gon, he said, "Come on—how long could it take? Take a month or two, and then you'll have more resources to look for your dad. You know we could use them."

"Good point!" said Gon.

"Hey!" said Leorio. "And I have about that much time off—I was going to go back and study, but I guess I could do that just as well here."

"Good luck with that," said Kurapika.

"Hey!" said Leorio, swinging his briefcase in Kurapika's general direction.

"It would be just like old times!" said Gon.

"Yeah," said Killua, rolling his eyes.

Leorio aimed his briefcase at Killua, who jumped back. "Hey, mind the ribs!"

"Wait, you hurt your ribs? Excellent! More practice!"

"Wait, what?" said Killua, backing away.

"Oh yes, knowing you guys, I think this could be an excellent opportunity for me to work on my practical skills…"

Kurapika shook his head. This was going to be a _long _two months.

But, you know…maybe today wasn't all that bad after all.


End file.
